President Saakashvili has again called for unity in the face of external threats and has asked the opposition to call off its hunger strike, saying it was “not Christian.”

“Now is very critical and important moment for Georgia,” he said on March 16. “On the one hand there is a huge battle ongoing for Georgia’s NATO membership. It is really a huge geopolitical struggle around Georgia. And on the other hand you know that there is a very critical situation in respect of Georgia’s regions [Abkhazia and South Ossetia], in respect of the games conducted by our neighbor [Russia] around our regions. So it is important to strengthen our international position and we should all be fully mobilized both within and outside the country.”

Saakashvili was speaking with Georgian journalists in Batumi just before his departure for the United States, where he is due to meet U.S. President George W. Bush on March 19.

“I want to tell everyone, the ruling majority, as well as the opposition, both moderates and radicals, now is the time to stand together to protect our country. I also want to tell those people who are on hunger strike that I am very sorry that they are resorting to a form of political struggle which is not Christian,” he said. Later on the same day the opposition denounced the ‘unChristian’ remark, saying it was “immoral.”

Saakashvili also said he would announce the date for the upcoming parliamentary elections “in the next few days.” Parliament has already amended the constitution and set elections for May; but it is up to the president to decide the exact date.

“Upcoming parliamentary elections should be held democratically and those elections should also serve to further strengthen our international position,” Saakashvili said. “We should all think about our country’s further strengthening and consolidation... This is a decisive moment in our history and I believe that each Georgian should understand this.”
 
Meanwhile, up to 60 opposition activists are continuing a hunger strike outside Parliament. March 16 marked the eighth day in a hunger strike for five politicians from the eight-party opposition coalition - three of whom are MPs. Others camped outside Parliament have been refusing food for seven and for some six days.

Six lawmakers from the New Rights Party camped just outside Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze’s office inside Parliament are on their seventh day (MP Irakli Iashvili joined them on March 13).

The New Rights Party upped the ante on March 14 after calling for the  resignation of Nino Burjanadze, accusing her of not following through on commitments undertaken during the negotiation process.

Burjanadze - because the opposition had refused to negotiate with President Saakashvili, describing him as “an illegitimate president” - was the key ruling party negotiator in recent talks with the opposition. Criticism of her intensified following the introduction of constitutional amendments on electing 75 majoritarian MPs, which was strongly opposed by the opposition. Burjanadze said that attacks on her were a pre-election maneuver. It is believed that Burjanadze will lead the National Movement’s party-list of MP candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections.